Our families are dysfunctional from time to time. Our employers create unnecessary stress for us. Internally we wrestle with unfulfilled goals and aspirations that we want for ourselves.

It doesn't take much for all of that frustration to bubble up to the surface.

And usually it happens in ways that make us less productive. Less effective.

So it is more important than ever to protect what we allow ourselves to think about. What we allow to mess with our emotions.

Here are some ways to do that:

Stop listening to biased talk radio and TV programs. — They are in the business of entertaining you with outrageous ideas. They win by creating panic, chaos, and hysteria. But you lose. Because you're distracted from what really matters.

Be purposeful about your daily schedule. Put important things on your calendar and get them done. Take things that don't matter off your calendar. Don't just float from meeting to meeting. Have a plan for how you spend each moment of your business day. Usually, fear and panic creep in when you have nothing else to think about.

Find ways to let out your frustration each day. Go running. Go to the gym. Get involved in something that demands physical exercise. There is something purging (and healing) about working out your problems through a little sweat and tears.

Ask for help quickly. If you truly think you are getting wronged or afraid of what you think you see, ask someone you trust to help you look at the situation. Get a new perspective. Remember, all the mental baggage from your past is influencing how you view circumstances right now.

Take a deep breath. Literally. Don't make decisions when you feel yourself getting angry or annoyed. The decisions you make will usually be bad ones. Horrible ones, in fact, that come back to haunt you in the future. Train yourself to slow down and not to do anything rash.

There are always "good" excuses why life is unfair to you. Why you "always seem" to get the short end of the stick.

The truth is that life is what you make it.

You can make excuses and pretend like it's everyone else's fault. Or you can take matters into your own hands and figure things out.

The government, your boss, other family member - they can't hurt you if you don't let them. They can't stop you if you don't let their nonsense into your head.

Another already with the excuses. Enough already with the blame and the drama and the hysteria.

It's time for us to grow up. It's time for us to stand up for what we believe is important. It is silly to allow others to fill our minds with fear and doubt, chaos and hysteria.

Today is an opportunity to think about what is right with the world.

It's out there waiting for you.

Waiting to be noticed. Waiting to be leveraged. Waiting to catapult you past breakthrough.

Perhaps a little less sulking and a lot more hard work is the formula for conquest today.